Jameson Taillon’s joke reveals devastating MLB lockout fact for Yankees

Now that the New York Yankees players have some free time on their hands, they’ll hopefully be among the fray goofing off on Twitter and keeping us up to date on their front-line battle for fair wages and protections.

Or … wait, can we technically call them “New York Yankees players” right now? Rob Manfred tossed them off the league’s website. Are we supposed to pretend they don’t exist, too?

Regardless, while we’re all having our fun and games with an MLB lockout we’ve long assumed won’t actually cancel games, but … very well could (!), there are some very real consequences to the league’s actions.

Most importantly, MLB players currently can’t talk to any team-affiliated personnel. Not only are trades and signings off the table, but essentials for health and well-being have also been eliminated, as brought to light by Jameson Taillon’s light-hearted reference on Thursday morning.

See, Taillon’s in the middle of injury rehab after having surgery on a torn foot tendon after he gutted out Game 162, and has long been presumed to be “ready” sometime around Opening Day.

Only, the thing is … he can no longer talk to his doctors and his rehab’s been shot/interrupted. Is that good?

https://twitter.com/JTaillon50/status/1466409753903575052

Yankees starter Jameson Taillon’s rehab timeline ruined by MLB lockout.

Yeah, so … that’s not great? Feeling like the Robert De Niro “Joker” meme. “You’re laughing? Our No. 2 starter’s getting robbed of normal foot treatment by greedy owners, and you’re laughing?”

Fans were already plotting a timeline without Taillon at the start of the campaign, with the full understanding that the rehab process could stretch farther than any of us wanted, but this is a whole new level of fret. Signing starting pitching depth sounds like a pretty good idea now, doesn’t it?

A few of Taillon’s MLB cohorts jumped in the mix to goof around with the idea of secret doctors, but it wasn’t really all that comforting, as much as Zack Britton tried to lighten the mood.

While Britton seemed to be suggesting Taillon consult with some sort of dog surgeon, Mets swingman Trevor Williams had a different idea — use social media!

Honestly, we prefer the pooch.

After posting his initial quip, Taillon changed his profile picture to a blank slate in solidarity with many other players sent into limbo by the lockout — you’ll notice Williams has it, too, as does Padres righty (and ex-Taillon teammate) Joe Musgrove.

We’ve tried to shrug off a work stoppage all year long, but now that it’s here, the ramifications could be quite devastating.

And the worst part of all? At the end of the whole thing, we might have to watch (shudder) Yankees baseball.

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